China And Japan Summon Each Other's Ambassadors As Tensions Grow Over Disputed Islands

China's declaration of an air defence identification zone that
includes disputed islands is "profoundly dangerous", Japan's
prime minister said Monday, as South Korea weighed into the war
of words against Beijing.

The warning came as Beijing and Tokyo summoned one another's
ambassadors to discuss increasing tensions between the rivals.

Shinzo Abe issued his statement after Washington said it would
stand by Japan in the event of any military clash over the
Senkaku Islands, which Beijing claims as the Diaoyus.

"I am strongly concerned as it is a profoundly dangerous act that
may cause unintended consequences," Abe told parliament.

"Japan will ask China to restrain itself while we continue
cooperating with the international community," he said.

The comments are the first from the premier on the issue since
Beijing on Saturday announced it would require all aircraft
flying over an area of the East China Sea to obey its orders.

US Secretary of State John Kerry declared Washington "deeply
concerned", saying the move raised "risks of an incident".

"This unilateral action constitutes an attempt to change the
status quo in the East China Sea," Kerry said.

In announcing the new rules, a Chinese defence ministry spokesman
said they would safeguard territorial sovereignty and maintain
"flight order".

Aircraft are now expected to provide their flight plan, clearly
mark their nationality, and maintain two-way radio communication
allowing them to "respond in a timely and accurate manner" to
identification inquiries from Chinese authorities, the defence
ministry said.

The announcement of the area, which also includes waters claimed
by Taipei and Seoul, provoked ire in both cities.

Part of the zone overlaps South Korea's own air defence zone and
incorporates a disputed, submerged, South Korean-controlled rock
-- known as Ieodo -- that has long been a source of diplomatic
tension with Beijing.

"I'd like to say once again that we have unchanging territorial
control over Ieodo," defence ministry spokesman Kim Min-Seok said
Monday.

In Taipei, which also claims the Senkakus, the government pledged
to "defend its sovereignty over the archipelago, protect the
rights of Taiwan fishermen in surrounding waters, and maintain
patrols to safeguard fishing activities".

Japan's foreign ministry said it would not respect the Chinese
demarcation, which it said had "no validity whatsoever in Japan".

'Hypocritical and impudent'

Beijing is engaged in a series of bilateral tiffs over the
ownership of islands and the waters surrounding them, including
several separate disputes in the South China Sea.

But the most serious is with Japan over the archipelago in the
East China Sea.

The disagreement has simmered for decades, but snapped into focus
in September 2012 when Tokyo nationalised three of the islands.

Japan billed the move as an attempt to avoid a much more
inflammatory purchase by a vocal nationalist, but China reacted
with fury and relations went into meltdown.

The two countries now play an almost permanent game of cat and
mouse in the area, with official ships and aircraft shadowing
each other.

Observers say the frequent presence of military or paramilitary
bodies from both sides raises the risk that a miscalculation or a
crash could quickly escalate into a conflict, dragging in the
United States.

Tetsuro Kato, professor emeritus at Tokyo's Hitotsubashi
University, said the move by China was to be expected because
thus far, no one has stopped Beijing as it tests how far it can
change the status quo.

"China is trying to make Japan admit to the fact that there is a
territorial dispute," he said.

"It is trying to make Japan... go back to the state before it
nationalised some of the islands," he said, referring to an
informal entente that was reached in the mid-1970s when the two
sides agreed not to talk about the subject.

"China is seeing what Washington and Tokyo will do," said Kato.

Chinese newspapers on Monday threw back Japan's outrage over the
air defence identification zone.

"Tokyo is hypocritical and impudent in its complaint with
Beijing," said an editorial in the Global Times newspaper, which
is close to China's ruling Communist Party.

The paper accused Japan of double standards as its own air
defence zone is as close as 50 kilometres (31 miles) from Russia
and 130 kilometres from China.

The world's second- and third-largest economies have significant
business ties but their political relationship is heavily
shadowed by history including Japan's brutal invasion of China
before World War II.